1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ceramic articles, and more particularly to porous cordierite-containing ceramic honeycomb articles having properties suitable for use in exhaust after-treatment applications, particularly diesel exhaust filtration, and methods for manufacturing such articles.
2. Technical Background
Recently, much interest has been directed towards the diesel engine due to its fuel efficiency, durability and economical aspects. However, diesel emissions have been scrutinized both in the United States and Europe, for their possibly harmful effects. As such, stricter environmental regulations will likely require diesel engines to be held to similar standards as gasoline engines. Therefore, diesel engine manufacturers and emission-control companies are working to achieve a diesel engine which is faster, cleaner and meets stringent emissions requirements under all operating conditions with minimal cost to the consumer.
One of the biggest challenges in lowering diesel emissions is controlling the levels of diesel particulate material present in the diesel exhaust stream. Diesel particulate material consists mainly of carbon soot. One way of removing the carbon soot from the diesel exhaust is through the use of diesel traps (otherwise referred to as “wall-flow filters” or “diesel particulate filters”). Diesel particulate filters capture the soot in the diesel exhaust on or in the porous walls of the filter body. The diesel particulate filter is designed to provide for nearly complete filtration of soot without significantly hindering the exhaust flow. However, as the layer of soot collects in the inlet channels of the diesel particulate filter, the lower permeability of the soot layer causes a gradual rise in the back pressure of the filter against the engine, causing the engine to work harder. Thus, once the carbon soot in the filter has accumulated to some level, the filter must be regenerated by burning out the soot, thereby restoring the back pressure again to low levels. Normally, this regeneration is accomplished under controlled conditions of engine management whereby a slow burn is initiated which lasts for a number of minutes, during which the temperature in the filter rises from a lower operational temperature to a maximum temperature.
Cordierite, being a low-cost material, in combination with offering a relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), has been the material of choice in diesel exhaust filtration. To that end, porous cordierite ceramic filters of the wall-flow type have been utilized for the removal of particles in the exhaust stream from some diesel engines since the early 1980s. A diesel particulate filter (DPF) ideally should combine low CTE (for thermal shock resistance), low pressure drop (for fuel efficiency), high filtration efficiency (for high removal of particles from the exhaust stream), high strength (to survive handling, canning, and vibration in use), and low cost. However, achieving this combination of features has proven elusive with cordierite DPFs.
Thus, DPF design requires the balancing of several properties, including porosity, pore size distribution, thermal expansion, strength, elastic modulus, pressure drop, and manufacturability. Further, several engineering tradeoffs have been required in order to fabricate a filter having an acceptable combination of physical properties and processability. For example, increased porosity is often attainable through the use of coarser raw materials, the use of pore forming agents, and or lower sintering temperatures. However, each of these may result in an increase in thermal expansion which may compromise the survivability of the filter in use.
Thus, it would be considered a significant advancement in the art to obtain optimized ceramic honeycomb articles, made of cordierite which are suitable for use in filter applications and which exhibit high thermal durability and high filtration efficiency coupled with low pressure drop across the filter. In particular, there is a recognized need in the art for cordierite ceramic honeycomb articles which possess desirable combinations of porosity, relatively narrow pore size distribution, and relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). To that end, as described below, the present invention provides such cordierite honeycomb articles and methods of manufacturing therefor.